And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; (Revelation 6:15)
See chs. 16:14; 17:12. The list that follows runs the whole gamut of social and political life as it existed in the Roman world of John’s day. Though the actual coming of Christ is not mentioned here, the context makes clear that Christ is about to appear.
Great men.
Gr. megistanes, “chief men,”“nobles,” perhaps corresponding to the Latin magistrati, civil officials of the Roman government, such as Pliny (see Vol. VI, pp. 61-63, 88), who often sent Christian martyrs to their deaths.
Gr. chiliarchoi, “chiefs of a thousand.” In the NT this word is used for the Roman military tribune (see John 18:12; Acts 21:31-33), and so here it probably represents high military officers.